


of life and death

by awildcur



Series: Coco and Soledad [1]
Category: Mayans M.C. (TV)
Genre: Día de los Muertos | Day of the Dead, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29702775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awildcur/pseuds/awildcur
Summary: Soledad Valdez spends her first Día de los Muertos in Santo Padre, and more importantly, without her mother. Still grieving after mother's death, the new florist in town has caught the eye of the MC, and its sniper.
Relationships: Johnny "Coco" Cruz/Original Character(s), Johnny "Coco" Cruz/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Coco and Soledad [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2182863
Kudos: 4





	of life and death

The sounds of the crowd forming in the market square grows louder each minute. Soledad adjusts the picture of her mother at the center of her ofrenda, fingers lingering on the frame. It’s the first Día de Muertos without her, and the feeling of sorrow weighs heavy on Soledad’s still grieving heart.

A heavy sigh escapes her, and the chime of the bell above her shop door alerts her to a potential customer. She looks over her shoulder, eyes meeting the leather through a puff of smoke.

“Johnny, please don’t smoke in here,” Soledad scolds him.

“My bad,” Coco says, quickly stepping back outside. She watches through the window as he takes the last couple drags of his cigarette, blowing the smoke into the sky before throwing it down on the sidewalk and crushing it with his shoe. He pulls the door back open and steps inside. “I ain’t kill nothin’, did I?”

Soledad rolls her eyes as he gestures around her flower shop, “inspecting” the colorful blooms that are on display.

“I think we’re safe,” she answers.

Coco walks up, taking in the sight before her. Marigolds had been set in a decorative arch above the altar, photos and offerings carefully placed, and a string of papel picado decorating the sides of the table. The array of colors are bright and eye-catching, and Coco finds himself scanning the altar and looking into the eyes of those who are no longer on this earth.

“Your mom?” he asks, nodding at the picture placed above the rest.

“Yeah,” Soledad answers. “It’s my first year without her, so…” she trails off.

Coco nods in acknowledgment. Soledad watches as he takes in the other pictures. Among the photos of the few relatives and friends she had loved and lost, there were others she had never met a day in her life. Tomás, a grandfather she never knew – he died before she was born, when her mother was just a girl. And Milagros, a grandmother she also never knew – she died when Soledad was a teenager, but the relationship between her abuelita and her mom was over long before then. Still, her mother always put her on their ofrenda after she passed – _“After everything, mija, she’s still my amá.”_

Soledad bites her lip, fidgeting with her hands as he inspects seemingly every aspect of the altar. She takes a step back, looking outside the shop windows – the crowd is getting bigger.

“What do you have on your ofrenda?” she suddenly asks him, tired of the silence.

“Don’t got one,” he says.

Soledad looks over at him. “Your family never celebrated or…?”

Coco gives a quick shake of his head. “Even if we did-” he shrugs, “-don’t got no one worth remembering.”

Soledad’s brows knit together. _How sad that must be_ , she thinks, _having no one to remember_. There’s still so much she doesn’t know about Coco, so many puzzle pieces to put together – and one always missing.

“ _Nobody?_ At all?”

“I’ve lost a lot in my life, mujer. Forgive me if I don’t really like to reflect on it.”

There’s a slight edge to his voice – _fucking drop it, Soledad._ She looks away, head hanging as her eyes look back to the pictures and offerings on the altar. She bites her tongue, wanting to know more but afraid of spoiling the mood altogether.

“Past is the past,” he tells her, his voice softer. “We’re here now.”

Soledad gives him a tight smile, turning back to him. “Yeah,” she nods.

The bell chimes again, and Soledad looks over her shoulder to see Bishop and Hank entering the shop.

“How’s it goin’, sweetheart?” Bishop asks as he goes in to hug her.

“Alright,” Soledad smiles at him as she returns the embrace. She turns to Hank and greets him the same.

“You did a good job,” Hank nods at the ofrenda, stepping closer for a better look. “Looks great.”

“Thanks.”

“Business goin’ alright?” Bishop asks next to her.

Soledad shrugs. “It’s going. I knew opening up my own shop wouldn’t be easy.”

“You need anything, you let us know.”

“Yeah, it’s good havin’ you around,” Hank says, looking around at the room of assorted flowers and bouquets. “Santo Padre’s a lot prettier with you in it.”

Soledad busies herself when Hank, Bishop and Coco start speaking together in hushed voices. She moves and re-moves little things on the ofrenda for what feels like the thousandth time. It’s the first tradition she has to do without her mother, and the first time building the altar all by herself. She can’t help but think it needs more, that something is missing.

Hank and Bishop call out to her as they exit, the signal of the bell breaking her out of her thoughts.

“You gon’ stay in the shop the whole festival?” Coco asks her once they’re alone.

Soledad shrugs. “It’s a celebration, people might need flowers,” she answers. “I asked Letty if she would cover the store tonight but–”

“Lemme fuckin’ call her,” Coco grumbles, reaching in his back pocket and pulling his cell out.

“Nah, Johnny. It’s fine.”

“It ain’t fine. You’ve been real nice, givin’ her a job and all and she pulls this shit?” He taps on the phone to call Letty, putting the phone to his ear as he shakes his head. “I don’t want you bein’ too lenient with her, Sol. She’s gotta learn responsibility.”

Soledad doesn’t reply but she knows he’s right. A couple beats later, Coco curses in Spanish under his breath when Letty doesn’t answer his call. She looks out the shop windows, seeing all the painted skulls on people’s faces, with flowers in their hair or candles in their hand. She’s admiring the intricate makeup, style and dress of a woman portraying La Catrina, and decides she doesn’t want to stay in the shop all night.

She turns to Coco, who’s still grumbling to himself over his daughter’s irresponsibility.

“How ‘bout this? I’ll close the shop until she shows up–”

“ _If_ she shows up.”

“And _when_ she gets here, I’ll meet her to open up again. Or she can find us in the crowd and I’ll give her the key.”

Coco doesn’t say anything about her slip of “us” but Soledad can see something in his eyes. He just nods and she takes that as confirmation. Before heading out, Soledad heads back to the storage room to find her veil. When placed atop her head, the long black lace hits her mid-back and adorns her head with colorful flowers. Her mom made it for her years ago.

When she comes back out, Coco stops short when he sees her. The veil is the only addition to her look, but it adds something to her he never really noticed before.

“You look good,” he says.

“Thanks,” she smiles. She looks back and forth between him and the door. “You first?”

Coco staggers to the door, pulling it open. He holds it while Soledad exits, and when she turns to lock up the shop, he takes the opportunity to pull out a cigarette.

“Really?” she asks him, brow raised as she watches him light the end.

“I ain’t in your shop anymore, am I?”

Soledad rolls her eyes but snorts in amusement. Coco pulls the smoke into his lungs, and blows it out as they join the crowd. A good amount of people have accumulated to celebrate in the market square; she nods and waves at the few people she recognizes. Felipe Reyes is one, as his shop is right down from hers. She stops at the panadería for some pan de muerto, her stomach growling as she realizes all at once that she’s barely eaten until then. Angel is close by, standing tall in his leather, and Coco stops and talks with him as he waits for her.

Soledad wastes no time pulling off a piece of the bread and popping it in her mouth. She hums in satisfaction and walks back up to Coco’s side. Her mouth busy chewing, she nods in acknowledgment to Angel and he does the same.

“I’ll catch you later,” he tells Coco and heads off into the panadería for himself.

They start walking around again. Soledad holds out her treat to Coco in an offer, but he just shakes his head. She gives him a look, almost certain that he’s eaten less than she has.

“Do you ever eat?” she asks. “I swear, the only thing I’ve ever seen you consume is beer.”

“I’m not the one with the growling stomach, chula.”

Soledad flushes but rolls her eyes, holding the bread out to him again. “Don’t make me force feed you, Johnny.”

Coco quirks an eyebrow at her, amused and intrigued. He has half a mind to let her try. He laughs, smoke billowing out from between his lips. Soledad pushes the bread close to his chest, and he knows there’s no getting out of it. He pulls off a piece, making a show of throwing it into his mouth and eating it.

“Hmm, that’s good,” he hums. “Lemme have s’more.”

Coco reaches over to take another piece and Soledad pulls it out of his reach, laughing as he protests. _“Oh, you gonna be like that now? Really?”_ He catches her around the waist, pulling her back to him, and she concedes. Instead of pulling off a piece of the bread, he leans in and takes a bite. Soledad scans the crowd around them, checking for any other nearby Mayans. She thinks about kissing him but they’re still… whatever they are. Unofficial. Nonexclusive.

Relationship status: Flirtationship? Saying it’s complicated doesn’t seem to cover it.

Soledad clears her throat and pushes away the thought. Coco releases her from his grip but stays in close contact, their fingers brushing together as they walk side by side. They pass by a cluster of people holding brightly lit candles to celebrate their lost loved ones, and Soledad turns to Coco before she can stop herself.

“Is what you said true?” she questions. “You don’t have anybody to remember?”

Coco shrugs. “Not really.”

“Not your parents or grandparents?”

“My pops might as well be dead,” he scoffs. “Never knew him. And Celia–” he shakes his head, “–she’s better off bein’ forgotten. Ain’t no love lost there.”

“I never knew my abuelos but they’re still on mine. Even though my mom didn’t talk to my grandma for years before her death, she still put her picture up on the altar.” She looks to Coco. “Always said that’s still her mom and all, y’know?”

He nods, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “Not every mom deserves that,” he says. “Blood doesn’t always make family.”

They’re silent for a minute, letting the sounds of the festival and surrounding crowd fill in for the moment.

“What about you and Letty?” she asks, voice soft.

Coco finally looks to her, but now Soledad is avoiding his eyes. “What about us?”

“I mean, if something were to happen to you, wouldn’t you want her to remember you?”

Coco snorts. “Wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. I got sixteen years of fuckin’ up to make up for. I dunno if I ever will.”

“At least you’re trying,” she says. “Some people don’t even do that.”

Their eyes finally meet. Coco sees the sincerity in Soledad’s eyes, wanting so badly to be as worthy as she thinks he is. But he knows better.

A phone rings, claiming their attention. They break their gaze and Soledad pulls her cellphone out of her pocket.

“Letty,” she tells Coco before answering.

“Sol! Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I completely forgot but I came as soon as I remembered. But the shop’s locked? Wait, are we closed tonight? Where are you?”

“Hey,” Soledad sighs into the phone. “No, we’re gonna be open. I have the key, just hold tight until I get there, okay?”

She hangs up and turns around, heading back to the shop. Coco follows. They find Letty at the entrance, her eyes scanning for Soledad over the crowd. She waves once she spots them, bouncing up and down in place on the sidewalk. Coco starts as soon as they’re within earshot.

“Leticia, what have I been telling you–”

“Coco, I already told her–”

Soledad lets them bicker behind her as she unlocks the door. She pushes it open and Letty ushers in, slightly shivering from the dropping outside temperatures. She exclaims when she sees the ofrenda, rushing over to look at it.

“It looks so good! See, Sol? You were worried for nothin’.”

Soledad chuckles at Letty’s enthusiasm. Then, “Oh, before I forget, I have something for you,” she tells her before disappearing in the back. She comes back with another veil similar to her own moments later and hands it to Letty.

“You were saying you liked mine so much, so… now you have one.”

Coco watches as his daughter gushes over the gift. Soledad helps Letty put it on, fluffing out the veil and making sure her flowers aren’t crooked.

“Wow,” Coco breathes out as he takes in the sight. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Soledad says with a shrug.

And it was worth it. Letty keeps smiling and toying with the veil, her fingers delicately running across the lace.

There’s a knock on the window. When they look, Angel is gesturing at Coco to come outside, and he does without a word. Letty and Soledad go about setting the store up for customers as the two Mayans speak outside, heads close together as they whisper to one another. When Coco comes back in, he walks up to the counter.

“Gotta head out,” he announces. “Anything goes down ‘round here, you let us know.”

Letty rolls her eyes and waves a hand. “Yeah, yeah.”

Coco ignores her dismissal and looks to Soledad.

“Got it,” she replies.

His eyes bore into hers for a beat too long, and he nods before turning to the door. Soledad asks Letty to find something in the storage real quick, and slips out the door when she knows it’s clear.

“Hey, Johnny,” she calls out to him, not too far away just yet. He looks back at her and they walk to meet each other half way. “Whatever you do, whatever you’re _about_ to do… be careful, okay?”

“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about–”

“C’mon, I’m not dumb,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Just don’t gimme a reason to start putting you up on my ofrenda. Okay?”

Coco laughs despite himself. “Yeah, okay,” he agrees. “I’ll do my best for you, chula.”

Soledad leans in and places a kiss close – _dangerously close_ – to his mouth. “Good,” she whispers to him before pulling back. She turns back to her shop, leaving Coco staring after her in the middle of the sidewalk.


End file.
